Sridevi in dock as her Rs.96 mn cheques bounce

New Delhi, April 23 (IANS) Bollywood actress Sridevi faces legal trouble as a Mumbai-based financier Wednesday moved the Supreme Court seeking her trial after her cheques worth Rs.96.6 million allegedly bounced. Financer Madhu Gupta, the proprietress of Mumbai-based Photo Films Industries, moved the apex court challenging a Bombay High Court order, which had stalled Sridevi’s trial March 26.

In her petition, Gupta told the apex court she has been supplying raw photo films and funding the film production business of Sridevi, her husband Boney Kapoor and father-in-law Surendra Kapoor.

Gupta alleged that Sridevi, to clear her debts incurred in the family’s film production business, made out three cheques worth Rs.96.6 million to her in March 2007.

But the bank dishonoured all three cheques as Sridevi’s bank account did not have sufficient funds , alleged Gupta.

She added that she subsequently moved the Mumbai trial courts at Kurla and Girgaum for recovery of her dues from the film actress in April 2007.

On her complaints, the Mumbai courts even issued summons to Sridevi, but the film actress evaded appearing before the court by seeking repeated adjournments of the hearing on various grounds, alleged the financier.

On the other hand, Sridevi got a criminal case registered against Gupta at the Juhu police station in Mumbai, maintaining that she never issued any cheque to her and the cheques with her purported signature the financier had presented to the court appeared to be forged.

Gupta said the Mumbai police after taking up the probe into the case of forgery lodged by Sridevi, approached her and demanded the copies of the cheques from her on the pretext of investigation.

But she, relying upon a Supreme Court ruling, refused to hand over the cheques to them as it would have weakened her own case, said Gupta.

Sridevi then moved the Bombay High Court for quashing the criminal proceedings launched by the Mumbai magisterial courts, said Gupta. The high court, in turn, had stalled the trial court proceedings against the film star, she said.

The female financier sought annulment of the high court’s ruling in favour of Sridevi, contending that as per the existing legal provisions and various rulings of the apex court, it should sparingly use its power to annul criminal proceedings against a person.